Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
Steelite International, the UK-based global pottery manufacturer, has announced plans to make 160 jobs, 20% of its workforce in Middleport, England, redundant to save costs in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The job cuts will affect all parts of the business from the shop floor to the management team.
A representative of the company said that the restructure was prompted by the unprecedented and 'dramatic' reduction in trade, which had affected the hospitality and manufacturing industries.
The GMB union was in consultation with the management about the job losses. A representative of the trade union said the job losses would affect 'the whole community.'
Steelite specialises in products for the hospitality industry and its tableware is distributed to more than 140 countries. The company is based in Stoke-on-Trent and it is owned by US-based private equity firm, Arbor Investments.
Eurofound (2020), Steelite International, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 101436, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/101436.